The present invention relates to linkage operated latching systems of the type used to releasably retain pivoted closures in closed positions, such as the tonneau covers of pickup trucks and the lids of large tool boxes and storage units that often are carried by pickup trucks or stationed at job sites where construction work is underway, wherein the operating mechanisms employed to effect unlatching of the closures, covers and lids are connected by one or more rigid or flexible links to latch components that must be pivoted or translated to effect unlatching of the latches so the closures, covers and lids can be opened.
Tonneau covers of pickup trucks typically employ hinges located near left and right forward end regions of the covers to pivotally connect the forward end regions to the bodies of pickup trucks, or to rails that are mounted on the bodies to extend along opposite sides of the beds of pickup trucks. The forwardly located hinges permit rearward portions of the tonneau covers to be pivoted between open and closed positions to permit and prevent access to the pickup truck beds. Latch assemblies typically are carried on left and right rearward end regions of the tonneau covers and are configured to engage strikers that either are carried by the left and right rear end regions of the bodies of the pickup trucks, or by the rails that are mounted on the bodies to extend along left and right sides of the pickup truck beds.
Tool boxes and job-site storage units also typically employ closures, covers or lids that are hinged near one side or end region, with the opposed side or end region being releasably held closed by latch assemblies located near left and right portions thereof. In some instances, the latches are carried by the closures and are arranged to engage strikers that are carried by base portions of the tool boxes or storage units. In other instances, the mounting locations of the latches and strikers are reversed, with the latches being carried by the base portions of the tool boxes or storage units, and being arranged to engage strikers that are carried by the closures.
To operate a pair of left and right latch assemblies that are used to releasably hold closed the tonneau cover of a pickup truck or the closure or lid of a tool box or storage unit, it is common to provide an operating mechanism that is situated somewhere between the left and right latch assemblies. The operating mechanism is connected to the left and right latch assemblies by links that extend leftwardly and rightly from the operating mechanism. When the operating mechanism is actuated so as to pull the leftwardly and rightwardly extending links generally toward each other (or, in some instances, to push the links generally away from each other), the resulting oppositely directed movements of the links cause corresponding oppositely directed movements of operating components of the left and right latch assemblies to effect operation or unlatching of the latch assemblies. When the left and right latch assemblies are operated, they release strikers that normally are latchingly retained by the left and right latch assemblies when the closures, covers or lids are closed. When the latch assemblies release the strikers, the closures, covers and lids may be pivoted open without encountering obstruction or interference from the latch assemblies.
To prevent unwanted or unauthorized opening of a tonneau cover, tool box lid or the like, the operating mechanism usually is provided with a key operated lock. In operating mechanisms of the type having one or more handles that are movable relative to a housing that supports the handle or handles to effect unlatching movements of the leftwardly and rightwardly extending links, the key operated lock usually serves, when locked, either 1) to prevent handle movement relative to the housing to thereby prevent the handle or handles from causing any unlatching movements of the links, or 2) to disconnect the handle or handles from the links to ensure that any handle movement that may take place relative to the housing is not transmitted to the links so that handle movements do not cause unlatching movements of the links.
One disclosure of a tonneau cover that employs left and right forwardly located hinge assemblies to pivotally mount the cover, and that employs left and right latch assemblies operated by a centrally located, rearwardly mounted handle and housing assembly that is connected to the latch assemblies by leftwardly and rightwardly extending links is provided by U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,500 issued Aug. 6, 2002 entitled LATCH, LOCK AND HINGE SYSTEM FOR USE WITH CLOSURES SUCH AS TONNEAU COVERS, assigned to The Eastern Company, referred to hereinafter as the “Latch, Lock and Hinge System Patent,” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The left and right latch assemblies disclosed in the Latch, Lock and Hinge System Patent are of a rotary type. Each employs a latch bolt that defines a recess of generally U-shaped configuration. Each latch bolt can pivot relative to a housing of the latch assembly between unlatched and latched positions. When the latch bolt is in its unlatched position, the U-shaped recess faces toward a striker that can be moved into and out of the recess as the cover is moved toward and away from its fully closed position. When the closure, cover or lid is moved to its fully closed position, the striker moves into the U-shaped recess and causes the latch bolt to pivot to its latched position wherein another component of the latch assembly, typically a spring biased pawl, engages the pivotal latch bolt to retain the latch bolt in its latched position. The latch bolt is retained in its latched position by the spring biased pawl until the latch is operated or unlatched to release its retaining engagement with the striker, which is accomplished by pivoting the pawl to move the pawl out of engagement with the striker. When the pawl releases the latch bolt, the latch bolt pivots toward its unlatched position under the influence of a spring that biases the latch bolt toward its unlatched position.
Other details and features of linkage operated rotary latches of the type described above, and other types of latching systems that employ rotary latches of the general type described above, are disclosed in other patents of The Eastern Company that include U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,490,895, 6,471,260, 6,454,320, 5,884,948, 5,595,076, 5,117,665, 5,069,491, 4,917,412, 4,896,906 and 4,703,961, referred to hereinafter as the “Rotary Latch Patents,” the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Operating mechanisms that can be connected by one or more rigid or flexible links to one or more latch assemblies for operating the latch or latches in response to handle movement, or in some instances, in response to energization of an electrically operated solenoid, are disclosed in patents assigned to The Eastern Company that include U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,490,895, 6,454,320, 6,427,500, 5,595,076, 5,117,665, 5,069,491, 4,917,412, 4,896,906, 4,892,338, 4,641,865, 3,333,878, 2,735,706 and 2,729,089, referred to hereinafter as the “Opposed Link Operating Mechanism Patents,” the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
When it has proven necessary for a rotary latch of the type disclosed in the Rotary Latch Patents to be operable (i.e., “unlatchable”) in response to movement of one or the other of a pair of links (with each of the links constituting an element of a separate operating mechanism), one approach that has been taken to address this need is disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,117,665, 5,069,491, 4,917,412 and 4,896,906 (referred to hereinafter as the “Rotary Latch With Dual Operating Arms Patents”). The approach taken in these patents calls for a rotary latch assembly to be provided not with a single operating arm, but rather with a pair of pivotal operating arms arranged side by side, with each of the operating arms being pivotally connected to the housing of the latch for independent movement (i.e., the arms pivot independently so that pivoting of one of the operating arms does not cause pivoting of the other of the arms), and with each of the operating arms being connected to a separate one of the pair of links so that each operating arm pivots in response to movement of a link component of a separate operating mechanism.
While the dual operating arm approach disclosed in the Rotary Latch With Dual Operating Arms Patents has served satisfactorily in the environments disclosed in the Rotary Latch With Dual Operating Arms Patents, this approach tends to be unsuitable for use with tonneau cover latching systems wherein rotary latches often need to be operated (i.e., to be “unlatched”) by a pair of links that travel through different distances, by links that move along unaligned paths of travel when they operate the latch, and/or by links that have other characteristics that are not easily accommodated by the dual operating arm approach. A simpler approach that permits the two links to connect with a single operating arm would be preferred (instead of employing a pair of operating arms each connected to a separate operating mechanism link) if a way could be found to permit each of the links to move the single operating arm without causing concurrent movement of the other of the links.
Latching systems that respond to remotely transmitted signals sent from hand held, pocket size, push button actuated transmitters have come into wide use during recent years. As transmitters and receivers have become more sophisticated and secure, and as the cost of this technology has diminished, remote signal responsive latching systems have increasingly been employed in securing passenger doors and trunk compartments of passenger vehicles, tonneau covers, tool box lids and the like.
The character and design of transmitters and receivers that utilize radio signals or infrared light or other modes of signal transmission to operate an electrical switch that completes and electrical circuit to operate an electrical solenoid are well known, are commercially available, and are utilized by, but do not form a part of, the present invention. One commercially available remote signal transmitter and receiver system that is referred to later herein as the “Remote Signal Unit” is sold by Iowa Export-Import, Des Moines, Iowa 50309 and can be specified by ordering part or model number “MULTI-RCU7-IL.”